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PCAG: New York

March 3, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

The Perplex City Academy Games were not just a phenomenon in London. A few weeks ago, there was an equally entertaining event on the other side of the Pacific in New York City. Lucky for us, we have a first-hand account of what transpired at the event from UnFiction community member (and active PXC player) Scott Myers. Here’s what he had to say:

We played 3 Gambits of a perplexian scissor-paper-rock game called Roundabout. This was quite silly, but set everyone in a jolly mood, and got people up out of their chairs and talking and laughing and having fun.

PCAG: London

February 28, 2006 / Guy Parsons

Mind Candy, in conjunction with the Perplex City Academy, ran their first Games in London on Saturday. The widely anticipated urban scavenger hunt unleashed impromptu choirs and conga lines across the capital, earning a wave of acclaim from over 200 participants.

The games – within the ‘reality’ of Perplex City, but unrelated to the mystery of the missing cube – were first announced in early January, and the Mind Candy team were deluged with applications from over eight hundred would-be players. The numbers were eventually whittled down, and 40 lucky six-member teams finally converged upon City Temple from as far afield as Barcelona, Texas and Hong Kong – some sporting uniforms, others neatly equipped with Rollerblades, and all buzzing with nervy excitement. Also in attendance were a gaggle of reporters and a volunteer crew of Game Rangers, who patrolled the streets and ran events throughout the day.

Another Contest… Ends Prematurely

February 26, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

It’s always disappointing to see an Alternate Reality Game pull up roots and disappear before its intended endgame. So far we have seen a handful casualties in 2006, and we are adding Another Contest Worth Entering to that list. Rumblings of an implosion came late last week, when UnFiction community member Chewy shared an email he received from the ACWE Puppetmaster team. While the email originally states that the team would be taking a two week hiatus to re-evaluate the situation, the latest word is that the game is, indeed, over.

Another PMChat Announced

February 25, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

After several successful chats last fall, the aspiring Puppetmasters hanging around the unfiction forums tricked Brooke Thompson into setting up a very ambitious online chat series aimed at helping potential Puppetmasters, whether they’re looking to develop grassroots (indie) or professional games. The two month long series (every Sunday until April 25) will follow game development from the earliest stages of team development to game launch to the rising of the curtain at the end.

For those unfamiliar with Brooke, she is an experienced Puppetmaster most widely known for her work on Metacortechs, Lockjaw, and the “quickstart guide”. She is also a contributing staff member here at Alternate Reality Gaming News. She is someone who is constantly “in the know” in matters involving ARG, and this is a great opportunity for those out there who want to take a serious look at creating and developing an ARG.

Puppetmasters, both experienced and aspiring, are encouraged to attend and to bring their questions, thoughts, and experiences with them. As always, privacy and discretion will be addressed and if there are points or questions that one would like to raise anonymously, you are welcome to forward them to Brooke before or during the chat. Players are also welcome as games are ultimately designed with their interests in mind.

Chats will be held in #pmchat on irc.chat-solutions.org at 2100 UTC (4:00PM EST) every Sunday. If you do not have an IRC client, you can always head over to our Java chat platform to join in. For more information, such as the schedule and how to access the chat, please see the #pmchat announcement on the Unfiction forums.

Akalesh Ascendant Update

February 21, 2006 / Dee Cook

The former project lead of Akalesh Ascendant (previously reported on here in August 2005) has informed us that half of the creative design team for the newly formed and registered LLP corporation “Dark Element Gaming” has departed the project, due to be the company’s debut in Alternate Reality Gaming. Several key members, including the head writer, head logistical designer, and vice president, resigned their positions at the Alternate Reality Game yesterday. This split was not contentious and the team members left as friends.

David Andrews, founder of Dark Element Gaming, has confirmed the split. “The Akalesh Ascendant game has been delayed indefinitely due to personnel issues. Players’ contact info is still held in complete confidentiality. The game will happen, just not in the timeframe specified by the original meta site.”

Renata Isle Goes Live

February 18, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

Welcome to the island. What started as an email has now turned into Renata Isle, a new grassroots ARG. The game went live yesterday with new links appearing on an in-game security site (which, at the moment, is unavailable). There was a very active audience playing the pre-game, so here’s hoping the real deal doesn’t disappoint.

Note: The trailhead site is not working properly in Firefox browsers. For those having difficulties accessing the main site, you can get to it directly here.

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